


What Role Is Left For Me To Play?

by metaphoricallylivin



Series: The Sun Will Set Without Our Assistance [2]
Category: New X-Men: Academy X, Young X-Men
Genre: Gen, LGBTQ Jewish Character(s), Magneto Is A Good Guy Cuz Fuck Marvel, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphoricallylivin/pseuds/metaphoricallylivin
Summary: Micah wasn't made for great things, it wasn't his design. Still there's good in him, he wants to help people, he wants to make the world safe.





	1. And If Not Now, When?

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck Marvel's idea that Magneto is a bad guy. Like I hate it and it's fake fake fake.
> 
> kid x-tra fucking annoying: Micah  
> one shady binch: Dallas  
> scaly: Victor  
> shine bright like a diamond: Roxy  
> pyro: Molly
> 
> The quote for the first chapter is from Hillel. It's only part of the full quote though.

Micah hated New Jersey, if his grandfather’s nursing home wasn’t there he doubted he’d ever go. It took 5 trains and a bus to get to his nursing home, a big sterile looking place that reminded Micah more of a funeral home than somewhere people lived. The halls smelled like a disgusting combination of mothballs and cleaning fluid. He made the trip twice a month to the building and every time he was reminded of how terrible it was. 

 

He found the door to his grandfather’s door already open, a man with white hair and a purple turtleneck laughing with his grandfather.

 

“Zayde?” Micah asked, knocking on the door of the room. He’d learned that if he didn’t knock he’d scare him to no end.

 

“Miciah! Meet my old friend, Erik!”

 

Efim Alfandari had reading glasses resting on the edge of his nose, his wrinkled skin and white hair gave him the appearance of an old professor. He’d never quite lost his accent, still thick despite him being 85 and having lived in America for over 30 years. He had a bright orange cane, something Micah had bought him for his 85th birthday.

 

“Miciah, your grandfather has told me a lot about you,” Erik said, standing up to shake Micah’s hand. He looked younger than Micah’s grandfather, 60 at oldest.

 

“Micah, not Miciah,” Micah had given up correcting his grandfather, it was either Miciah or nothing, the man was stuck in his ways.

 

“Ah,” Erik said, nodding. “He tells me you’re a mutant, so am I.” A coin flew around his hand in a slow, methodic movement.

 

Micah paused, perplexed for a second. “Holy fuck, my grandfather knows Magneto.”

 

“Language, Miciah,” Efim said.

 

“Don’t be so hard on the boy, Efim, you cuss like a sailor,” Erik said. Efim made an unhappy noise, but didn’t protest.

 

Micah pulled out his phone, going to the groupchat.

 

**kid x-tra fucking annoying:** yall!!! im meeting magneto rn!!!

 

**one shady binch:** don’t play us like this

 

**scaly:** tell him he was right and we appreciate all that he’s done

 

**shine bright like a diamond:** tell him the coalition of lesbian mutants supports him

 

**pyro:** pics or it didn’t happen

 

“Mr. Magneto? Could I by any chance get a picture with you?” Micah asked.

 

“Oh, sure,” Erik said.

 

Micah turned his camera front-facing and flashed a megawatt smile. Erik smiled half heartedly and Micah took a few quick pictures, selecting the best looking one and setting it as his lock screen before sending them all to his friends.

 

**kid x-tra fucking annoying:** _ four images attached _

 

**pyro:** holy fucking shit!!!!

 

Micah smiled, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

 

“If you would like I would train you under me,” Erik said. “Efim tells me that you’re having trouble.”

 

Micah sighed. It was true, his powers had seemingly conspired to make him terrified of himself. He could feel all the energy all around him, the electricity coursing through the walls to the gravity around him. The world seemed to hum because of it, a chorus he spent most of his time trying to drown out.

 

“Yeah, I can manipulate energy. If I wanted to I could black out this entire power grid, but it’s not quite something I try to do. It’s scary,” Micah sighed. He turned to his grandfather. “Mom told you about me, right?”

 

“Yes, tatala. Miriam told me about you and your brother being mutants,” Efim said, with the dismissive grandfatherly voice Micah was used to. “You forget I am a mutant too.”

 

“No, Zayde. About what I am,” Micah said. “About how I was made.”

 

Efim sent Micah a weird look, questioning what he meant.

 

“When Abram was three he needed a third surgery. Mom couldn’t afford it and she was approached by some people to have a mutant child, they told her that it was so they could monitor mutant development. They paid her a ton for agreeing up front and then engineered, well, me. They killed Mom and Abram because they wanted me, so yeah that’s the cliff notes version,” Micah shrugged.

 

“I… I think I need time alone, Miciah. I’ll see you when you visit next, yes?” Efim said.

 

“Yeah, Zayde. I’ll see you then,” Micah said, he picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder in the process. He sighed, the visits with his grandfather usually lasted at least long enough to get some jello out of it.

 

“Micah, wait!” Erik yelled.

 

“Mag-Mr. Erik, what do you need?” Micah asked.

 

“Can you spare some time to get food with me?” Erik asked.

 

“Sure. Uh, could you by any chance drive me back to the school?” Micah asked, digging his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt. winter break meant the school was empty, a good 70% of the students were back home with their family. “3 bus rides kinda sounds like a sucky option.

 

Erik laughed, nodding. Micah followed him to his car.

 

“I control energy, all types of it as far as I can tell. I can do a lot of stuff with it,” Micah shrugged. “I’ve been working on turning stuff off and on like in a blackout, a couple weeks ago I accidentally blacked out Westchester County, it’s weird. Dr. McCoy thinks my energy manipulation abilities are what allow me to use a form of telekinesis, he says it’s more similar to what Polaris and, well, you use than traditional telekinesis. I have those powers under control and I’m getting better with energy blasts, but energy manipulation is still weird.”

 

“If you accept every part of his powers it could help. The good, the bad, the scary, all of it is part of you,” Magneto said. “Accepting your powers is the first step to being who you’re meant to be.”

 

Micah didn’t meet Erik’s eyes. He didn’t know what part of him was meant for good, he’d been an experiment, something made in a lab to be powerful, useful. He’d never been meant to be loved, to be a person. All those things still happened.

 

“I wasn’t ever meant to be something good, what if accepting my powers is the first step to becoming something terrible?” Micah said.

 

“Maybe it’s the first step to becoming something great.”

 

Micah didn’t say anything after that. The ride to the school was silent, Micah watching the scenery around him.

 

“If you want my help I’ll be in town for a few more days,” Erik said, hanging Micah a business card.

 

Micah ran his fingers over the smooth paper, in silver on the black background read,

 

_ Erik Lehnsherr _

_ Magneto _

_ 212-688-2681 _

 

Micah paused, stuffing the card in his pocket.

 

“Thank you for the ride,” Micah said.

 

“You’re welcome,” Erik said before revving up the engine of his car and driving away.

 

Micah walked into the math room where the sign in and sign out sheet was.

 

“You’re back soon,” Mr. Drake said, handing Micah the sheet.

 

“I, I got some help home,” Micah said, writing in the time.

 

“Well that sounds good. Is there something on your mind?” Mr. Drake said, placing the clipboard next to him on his desk after signing next to the time.

 

“Promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you?” Micah said.

 

Mr. Drake’s face morphed into one of concern, sitting forward in his seat as he knitted his brow together. “I have to tell someone if you’re planning on hurting yourself or someone else. If you are it’s okay, it really is and it’s brave of you to tell me.”

 

“No, I mean, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. A couple years ago you plunged the world into another ice age, I thought maybe you’d understand,” Micah said. Mr. Drake made a movement, a silent cue for Micah to continue. “I can feel everything, all the energy around me and I can manipulate it. It scares me, what if I end up hurting people. I don’t want to be so powerful that nothing can stop me. I could kill people, short circuit their brain as easy as I could a toaster and that’s scary. I don’t want this type of power.”

 

“I understand, knowing what you can do, it’s scary. Every mutant has to face their own fear of themselves at some point. The fact that you’re afraid of hurting people is good, it means you don’t want to,” Mr. Drake said. “That makes sense, right?”

 

Micah paused, flipping his words over in his mind. “Yeah, it makes sense. Thanks, I think it helps a little.”

 

“Happy to help, now excuse me despite it being winter break I still have to grade a thousand tests,” Mr. Drake said.

 

“One more question, my grandfather is friends with Magneto and well… Magneto offered to train me. I want to learn more about my powers and there’s no energy manipulators around here, he’s the closest thing,” Micah said. “Is that a good idea?”

 

“Yeah, energy manipulation is probably one of the rarest mutations. I’d say if you think this’d help you, do it. Magneto is actually a pretty okay. Baselines hate him because he’s too ‘radical’,” Mr. Drake did air quotes when he said radical. “But he cares about mutants.”

 

Micah nodded. He made a plan to call Magneto when he got to his room, he wanted to get better and stop scaring himself. He wanted to control his powers. He wanted to be perfect one day.


	2. If You Grasp Too Much, You Cannot Hold It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a quote from the talmud. Enjoy ya'll.

Micah didn’t know how his first lesson with his powers would go, what he’d be taught, how it would end. He knew he could speculate, but there was no way for him to know until he started. Turns out his lesson started before he even saw Magneto, with a simple text instructing Micah to go to the address sent. When he texted back that he didn’t have a car the response was “You can fly.”

 

Micah grumbled, pulling his hat tighter over his ears. He could fly, but in mid winter the air would be unbearably cold. Still it was an order and one he was going to follow. 

 

The address led to a house. It had white siding and green shutters, the backyard was filled with trees and had a small shed. If not for it’s relative isolation it would’ve looked like any big suburban house covered in snow. Micah landed on one of the two deck type things, though Micah realized after a second that it probably wasn’t a deck because of the lack of lawn furniture and grills and stuff. That and the fact that the only connection to it was a window rather than a door. So he used his telekinesis to unlock the window and crawl in.

 

Micah stripped off his coat and hat, leaving him in a sweatshirt, jeans, and a pair of sneakers. He briefly considered taking off his shoes, but it wasn’t carpet and he didn’t think Magneto would mind that much.

 

“Hello? Anyone home? Magneto?” Micah called, noticing the room he was in appeared to be a study, or something like that. There was books piled high all along the walls and a huge mahogany desk in the middle of the room. A second later a blur ran by, messing up Micah’s hair in a tornado of wind.

 

“Hey! Zayde said you’d be here. Name’s Speed,” a boy said, he had snow white hair and medium brown skin. He was eating a poptart.

 

“Micah. Well, Kid X. He said that he’d help teach me about my powers,” Micah smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head.

 

“It’s cool. Do you want some?” Speed stuck out his pop tart.

 

“Uh, sure. Strawberry, right?” Micah asked and a second later Speed was back and handing one to Micah. Micah hummed and took a bite.

 

“Come on, let’s go downstairs. We can play some videogames,” Speed said before disappearing down the stairs.

 

* * *

 

Erik arrived roughly an hour after Micah got there, a bag in his hand. 

 

“Micah, come outside for practice,” Erik said.

 

Micah nodded, following him out to what he was pretty sure was a screened in porch. Erik sat down the bag, taking out a string of lights and plugging them in.

 

“Turn out just one light,” Erik said. His eyes scanned them before he pointed to one of the lights in the middle. “Just that one. Call me out when you do it, there’s 10 packages of lights in the bag.”

 

“Mr. Magneto, that doesn’t really make sense. I can turn off the whole power grid, a single light is nothing,” Micah said. It didn’t make sense to him at all.

 

“I agree, I did some research on you and you’re able to perform impressive displays of power, but I’m more interested in whether or not you can turn off that light,” Erik said before he smiled and headed back into the house.

 

Micah huffed, focusing on the light and turning it off. After a few seconds the outlet sent sparks through the air.

 

“Fuck.”

 

* * *

 

It took 7 packages of Christmas Lights before Micah could turn off just one light. After he succeeded Erik noted that it’d taken him less time than expected and sent him home.

 

“When you see Ms. Munroe next, tell her I say thank you for supplying me with your training videos,” Erik said.

 

“Ororo knows I’m training with you?” Micah asked.

 

“She asked me if I would 4 months ago, since then I’ve been hung up with… other matters. I will see you tomorrow at 10 am,” Erik said before turning back to his phone call.

 

Micah stood there for a second, dumbfounded before he opened his mouth. “Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

Micah called Ororo on his way home, pausing in the air with his phone on speaker.

 

“How’s Cairo?” Micah asked.

 

“Good. I’d forgotten how much I’ve missed it. I’m going to stay a few more days, but I’ll be back before New Years,” Ororo said, Micah could barely pick up the noise around her. She was probably at a market or something.

 

“It sucks that my passport expired and we didn’t realize it until we were at the airport. I would’ve loved to see where you grew up,” Micah said.

 

“Perhaps this summer. How’s training going?” Ororo asked, she sounded cheerful.

 

“Good. You asked Magneto to train me?” Micah asked.

 

“Yes, I figured he was one of the few people who could help you control your powers. I didn’t want you to have to learn through trial and error like I did,” Ororo said. 

 

Micah nodded before noticing that he was on the phone. “Yeah. Thank you for doing that. Call you tomorrow?”

 

“Sure. I can’t wait to see in a few days,” Ororo said. “Love you.”

 

“Love you too, ‘Ro,” Micah said. “Bye.”

 

“Bye, Micah,” Ororo said.

 

Micah landed at the school after a few more minutes of flying, the light refracting off of the snow being almost blinding. If school had been in session the snow would’ve been trampled before the mornin had even begun. Instead it was a sea of fresh white powder. Micah paused for a second before grabbing a fist full of snow and lobbing it at Roxy’s window. After a second she appeared at the window, seemingly brimming with rage.

 

“Snowball fight?” Micah asked, quirking one of his eyebrows at Roxy.

 

“Oh, you’re on. I’ll be down in a minute to kick your ass,” Roxy said before closing the window and disappearing in a flurry of activity, probably in a rush to get on her snow gear. She was outside barely a minute later.

 

Roxy smiled, a devilish grin before grabbing a fist full of snow and lobbing it at Micah. He smiled, crossing his arms over his face as it collided with him.

 

“Ready to go down, Kid X?” Roxy asked.

 

“You forget I’m telekinetic so I never miss my mark,” Micah said, he reached out with his powers, forming snow into small balls before he picked one up and threw it at Roxy.

 

“Hmmm, impressive. But even the fanciest powers can lose to brute force,” Roxy said, lobbing a snowball at Micah at an impressive speed before tackling him into a bank of snow.

 

“I give up,” Micah yelled, stifling his laughter in the palm of his hand. “You’re the superior mutant.”

 

“And you know it,” Roxy said before pumping her fist in the air, triumphant.

 

It was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought of this chapter... I always love to hear...


	3. When The Cure Is Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess the theme of this fic is me adapting Jewish quotes. Anyways enjoy.

“You should grow out your hair,” Roxy said. Micah was sitting on the couch with her, his head in her lap.

 

“Why? I’d look like a total douchebag with my hair in a bieber cut or something,” Micah said, the TV was blaring with some weird vaguely winter-y Hallmark movie. Not quite Christmas cheer, but the weird pre-Valentine's Day thing.

 

“Nevermind, I’m blocking you and I hate everything you stand for. Plus your hair is way too fluffy for a bieber cut,” Roxy cackled, throwing her head back into way too loud laughter.

 

Micah laughed a little. “What do you wanna do? All our friends are out of town.”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe we should take a day trip to New York?” Roxy suggested, she was clearly trying to sound aloof, as though she didn’t actually want to go.

 

“Have you ever met Shatterstar and Rictor?” Micah asked. “If you want to meet them we could meet them for lunch or something. There’s only like a 1 in 15 chance Shatterstar kills someone during lunch so it could be fun.”

 

“Your family’s real weird,” Roxy rolled her eyes.

 

“Says the girl who hasn’t seen her parents in over 10 month,” Micah said.

 

”Touché. So New York tomorrow?” Roxy said.

 

“Yeap, I’m in.”

 

* * *

 

The train ride to New York was uneventful, other than the weird looks from the other passengers, nothing happened. Leaving school grounds was always a gamble, especially with Micah and Roxy. People tended to see a girl made of diamond and a boy who glowed all over and assume the worst, that mutants were coming to kill them or something. Rather than they were getting lunch in the city and then going shopping. Still it put them on edge.

 

“Where are we going for lunch?” Roxy asked.

 

“Oh, uh, I think a place in District X? Shatterstar said they have really great pancakes and Rictor loves his boyfriend too much to say no to him,” Micah said. He tried to remember the exact name, but it had escaped him for some reason.

 

“Sounds good,” Roxy said before opening pulling her headphones over her ears, effectively tuning out the world.

 

After switching trains a few times they arrived in District X, a four block walk from the restaurant. Roxy stepped out and immediately her eyes went wide.

 

“Welcome to District X, a square mile stretch of Manhattan home to almost half the world’s mutants,” Micah said. Roxy was clearly lost in thought, watching as the people walked, sometimes even flew, by her. Gone were the dirty looks people gave her, replaced with the same looks everyone has on the subway, vague indifference.

 

After a minute of her standing still Micah rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and dragging her up the stairs, “If you think this is great the stuff out here is gonna blow your mind.”

 

Roxy looked around the street across from the park with a sense of wonderment. People with various mutations, everything from extra arms to low level telekinetic abilities, walked by. A mother dragged her 3 year old child down the street as he yelled and begged to stop for a hot dog, a normal scene if not for the mother and child’s blue skin and glowing eyes.

 

“How have you never been to District X before? Mutant History class has taken like 3 field trips here this semester alone,” Micah said.

 

“I haven’t taken that class,” Roxy said, her voice reverent like she was in awe.

 

“Well we should start walking if we wanna get there on time. Afterwards we can stop by the place that sells clothes for Mutants, there’s some cool stuff there,” Micah said before shoving his hands into his hoodie.

 

Roxy nodded.

 

The restaurant served pub food, mostly burgers and fries. Each dish was named after a different famous mutant. It was gimmicky, but also hilarious because who wouldn’t want to eat a kosher burger with a purple bun themed after Magneto. Shatterstar and Rictor were already seated when Micah and Roxy got there.

 

“Rictor!” Micah yelled, waving to him.

 

“Hey, short stuff,” Rictor said, ruffling Micah’s hair like he was still 5 years old.

 

Micah smiled, hovering a few inches off the ground, “There, now I’m taller.”

 

Rictor muttered something in a mix of Spanish and a language Micah couldn’t quite make out, making Shatter choke out a stifled laugh.

 

“Oh, this is my friend Roxy. We’re in the Charmers together,” Micah said.

 

“You guys were on X-Force right? That must’ve been awesome,” Roxy said, grabbing a seat.

 

“Yeah, it was pretty cool. X-Force brats tend to live a lot longer than the other X Kids,” Rictor said, he shrugged slightly.

 

No one said anything after that, everyone knew that what happened when kids became part of X-Teams they tended not to live long. Those who did usually came out of it with issues. After a few minutes the conversation started up lazily, Rictor asking Micah about how his classes were going. Micah half heartedly went on about how school was going good, that his classes were fun enough and he was learning a lot.

 

Micah ordered the Magneto burger and Roxy ordered one themed after Gambit, it was advertised as a cajun type burger served with fries coated in cajun seasoning.

 

Halfway through the meal there was a booming noise, the building shaking and everyone was thrown to the floor. The floor was dented under Roxy’s head and cracked around it. Everyone around the room slowly rose to their feet, rubbing their heads and looking around nervously.

 

“What just happened?” Micah asked, turning towards Rictor. “Is it, was it an earthquake?”

 

“No, I have no idea what that was,” Rictor said before carefully heading to the door of the restaurant.

 

“Micah, I swear to god if you even think about eating fries off the floor we’re no longer friends,” Roxy said.

 

“I wasn’t!” Micah protested.

 

“Yeah, sure you weren’t,” Roxy’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

 

Shatterstar and Rictor were standing at the door, talking in a hushed tone that made Micah scared about what they were talking about.

 

“Micah, Roxy, stay here. We’re going to check out what happened,” Rictor said before bolting, following Shatterstar down the street.

 

“What do you think's going on?” Micah asked.

 

“Who the fuck knows,” Roxy shrugged, pulling out her phone as sirens wailed in the distance.

 

Micah’s phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling him away from where he’d been staring at the door.

 

**Uncle Jean Paul** : Micah, stay inside. Don’t do anything stupid. Stay safe.

 

Micah swallowed thickly, “Something really bad must be going on, I just got a cryptic text from my Uncle.”

 

“You think the world’s ending?” Roxy asked, her eyes widening in fear.

 

“I… I don’t know,” Micah tried to shove down the fear blooming in his chest, get rid of all the parts of him telling him to run or hide. He breathed deeply, closing his eyes for a count of 10.

 

“What do you want to do?” Roxy asked.

 

“I guess we should stay here,” Micah said. “J. P. told me to stay put and not do anything stupid so I guess let’s stay here.”

 

A few minutes later there was a second shock, a wave of orange-ish light hitting people before dissipating. For a second everything was still, the world was amazingly quiet, quieter than Micah had ever remembered the world being, before the world exploded screams filling the air and sirens blaring.

 

“Are you okay?” Micah asked, his eyes searching the restaurant to see if everyone was okay.

 

“I’m fine, Micah. Are you okay?” Roxy said, brushing some debris off her jacket.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Micah said.


	4. But You Don’t Yet Know, Child, Of Shame Or Of Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from a Jewish Lullby by Yisroel Shtern.

After two hours of sitting in a half destroyed diner Micah’s phone rang. He checked the screen “Darya Shirvani”. He paused for a second before he pressed answer.

“Micah,” Darya said, her voice was steely, it was as confident and smooth. It was the same as the last time they’d spoken. “You told me to call you if someone ever hurt Jackie again, I think I need your help.”

“Okay, okay. Where are you? I’ll meet you there,” Micah said, grabbing his backpack and swinging it on. He stood up carefully, making sure not to disturb any rubble.

“The community center. The one they rebuilt a few years back,” she said.

“Be there in 5 or under,” Micah said, running outside before taking to the sky. “Roxy! If I’m not back in an hour come looking for me!”

When Micah landed everything was quiet. He couldn’t hear the screams and sirens over his own heartbeat anymore. He’d promised Darya he’d always keep her daughter safe and it wasn’t a promise he intended on breaking. Micah breathed deeply before pushing open the door. It was in the evacuation zone, everyone was gone and Micah walked down the corridors, he was taken by how little it had changed. He was 4 the last time he’d been there and somehow it felt the same, the walls were filled with pictures and artwork made by young mutants, the fluorescent lights still hurt Micah’s eyes, and the tiles still squeaked with every step. It was almost like the place had been frozen in time.

“Ms. Shirvani? Jackie?” Micah yelled, rushing down the halls.

“Micah! Micah!” Jackie yelled, she was running full speed down the hallway.

Darya came running after Jackie, her hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing a leather jacket.

“Micah, when this started. They tried to come back for Jackie, her powers, they changed one of the men and he leveled a block. I need your help to protect her,” Darya said, she sounded out of breath like she’d run a marathon only to start talking to Micah.

Micah nodded. “I can do that. You can’t know where she is though. Just… say goodbye. I’ll wait down the hall.”

Micah didn’t know if the sobbing was from Darya or Jackie, but a few minutes later Jackie grabbed his hand. She had a brave face that Micah respected as he picked her up and flew.

 

* * *

 

 

Seeing New York from above was an experience. At night the world seemed the glitter and it was one of the most beautiful things Micah could conceive of seeing. Still in mid day with a haze of dust it didn’t seem so brilliant. Micah followed a path from District X to the condo Kyle and Jean Paul shared, landing on the terrace that he knew Jean Paul used as a landing pad and punching in the security code.

“Kyle! Uncle Jean-Paul! Either of you home?” Micah yelled, setting Jackie down and heading to the fridge. Even though he was constantly absorbing ambient energy flying after not finishing lunch left him drained.

There was no response so Micah shrugged and opened up their fridge, pulling out a jug of lemonade and taking a long drink directly from the bottle.

“My mom says that’s gross,” Jackie said, using a tone of disgust usually reserved for someone observing road kill.

“Well, your mom’s not here. You want some?” Micah asked. “They’ve got orange juice and milk.”

Jackie took a long look at the contents of the fridge before grabbing the milk and drinking it straight from the carton. “Don’t tell my mom.”

Micah shrugged, he had no intentions of doing so. He’d always thought not drinking from the carton made no sense since fridges were supposed to be kept at a temperature low enough to kill germs. He rummaged around in their pantry looking for any food that wasn’t dreadfully healthy. Micah settled on a bag of popcorn and poured Jackie a bowl.

“How do you know it’s safe here?” Jackie asked, popping the popcorn into her mouth a kernel at a time.

“My uncle lives here and his security system was designed by Dr. Kitty Pryde and Dr. Hank McCoy. They had Shadowcat, Gambit, Storm, and I all run security tests against it. This place is damn near impossible to get into,” Micah said. “Now what do kids your age actually like to do? Overthrow the government? Cartoons?”

Jackie rolled her eyes in an impeccable show of fourth grade exasperation.

“Well since I don’t know what you like we’re watching PBS. I think they’re playing reruns of Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman,” Micah said, grabbing the remote and channel surfing to PBS.

Jackie watched it with lackluster interest, commenting occasionally that the challenges were too easy. Micah shrugged at her comments, throwing popcorn into his mouth. He crunched it in his mouth and laughed as a kid got covered in paint.

“Why are your eyes like that?” Jackie asked, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

“Because my body absorbs most ambient energy automatically I absorb more than I use. So to maintain non-dangerous levels I glow,” Micah said, shrugging slightly. His powers were weird and confusing sometimes.

“Cool. The doctors at XI said that I can affect people’s phenotypes, whatever that means,” Jackie said. “They wanted me to make more mutants.”

“You can do that?” Micah asked.

“It’s easy,” Jackie said like making someone a mutant was as simple as writing her name.

Micah nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

Micah woke up to screaming and the sound of explosives. Kyle and Jean-Paul were still in Toronto, no one should’ve been in the apartment. Micah ran out, energy crackling around his hands, ready to blow everyone to hell. Before he saw something that made his hands freeze  
and his stomach drop.

_Abram. He’s alive. He’s alive._

Micah’s heart skipped a beat, he didn’t even notice that Abram had grabbed Jackie and that she was kicking and screaming. His dark brown eyes narrowed at Micah.

“Target XI-25-3 had been identified with XI-25-17. What are my orders?” Abram asked. Jackie thrashed in his arms, biting his arm hard enough to draw blood. There was no response.

Micah didn’t move, barely registering the tears running down his cheeks.

The next thing he could remember was a room. It was similar to the room back in the Weapons X facility, the bed was hard and a mirror sat on one wall. The intercom crackled above Micah.

He was alone, he was stupid. Micah had been here before, only this time they’d found his weakness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pwease comment...


	5. A Brother Is Born For Adversity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to Wreak Havoc by Skylar Grey while writing this. I also listened to some Cotton by The Mountain Goats and The Flowers by Regina Spektor.

Micah was there for two nights before he saw anyone. Meals were shoved through a slot in the door and other than the occasional low buzz of the intercom Micah was alone with his thoughts. The only way he knew that time had even passed was from the intercom announcing it was night and the prompt disappearance of the obnoxious fluorescent lights.

 

Micah watched as the door swung open and a man walked in. He was tall, 6’ 2” maybe and his hair was perfectly styled in a way that gave Micah the impression he cared more about appearances than anything else. His suit was crisp and he was flanked by two other people, a man in a lab coat and a woman holding a gun. A guard, Micah assumed.

 

“Micah Alfandari, youngest child of Miriam Alfandari A.K.A. Tectonic. You have quite the reputation. You singlehandedly destroyed Weapon XI’s largest and most consequential facility. After that they transferred their, let’s say assets, to the highest bidder. I bid on you, your brother, and a few other odds and ends. You see, I have things you want and you have things I want. We can work together,” he said. He had a manila folder in his hand, stamped with the Weapons Plus logo. He handed it to Micah, jerking it back as Micah reached for it. “This is a show of good faith. I believe in open communication, don’t make me regret this.”

 

Micah didn’t say anything, mutely reaching for the file and opening it up.

 

“I’ll leave you with that. Guard, watch him,” and with that he was gone. The scientist following him out of the room and the telltale sound of the door locking on their way out.

 

Micah opened the file, it was almost an inch thick and filled with a variety of information. The first page served as a sort of table of contents and general information. As Micah scanned the page he realized it was about him.

 

* * *

 

_ Subject: XI-25-3 _

 

_ Name: Micah Christopher Alfandari _

 

_ Miriam “Tectonic” Alfandari: Mother. Deceased. _

 

_ Gabriel “Vulcan” Summers: Father. Assumed Deceased. _

 

_ Abram “Bluff” Alfandari: Brother. For further information see file #018367. _

 

_ Known Associates: Ororo Munroe, Jean-Paul Beaubier _

 

_ Powerset: Energy Manipulation, Telekinesis; Ability to Fly, Create Large Concussive Blasts, and Absorb Electricity through application of those powers. _

 

_ Threat Level: 4 _

 

* * *

 

Micah ran his fingers across the page before thumbing through the rest of the file. Most of the information was about how his powers could be applied theoretically or about his creation. Micah felt like he was reading the script of someone else’s life. The child described in the file wasn’t him, he wasn’t a weapon, something to be used and used until there was nothing left. Maybe there was already nothing left.

 

Micah closed his eyes against the bright lights and curled up under the thin blanket. He played a game in his mind, that his mom was still alive. He tried to be imagining what they’d be doing, probably some trip to the aquarium with Ororo, where Ororo would make him ask her questions after all the times Micah and Abram had told her it was embarrassing that she asked umpteen questions during events meant for kids. He wondered how that version of him would feel, how he'd probably roll his eyes at his family and get a stuffed animal from the gift shop. He wanted to be that Micah, he wished that out of all the possible people he could be that he could be that one. That he could have that life.

 

He didn’t have that life. Instead he was trying to decide whether or not to do what a terrible person asked because of his brother. He sighed, looking up at the guard. “What does he want me to do?”

 

The guard didn’t say anything, but after a few seconds hazy words came over the intercom.

 

_ What we want. _

 

* * *

 

The next morning they took him out of the cage and had him use his powers. They took videos of him utilizing his powers, throwing concussive blasts hard enough to shatter 15 straight inches of reinforced concrete. They took measurements and photos, carefully recorded. Micah tried to focus on anything, but the nagging feeling that this was wrong. That he would die because of it and that maybe he couldn’t save his brother.

 

At the end of the performance the man came back in. He sat down across the table from Micah, sliding a file across to him.

 

“We have someone who’s interested in you,” he said. He motioned for Micah to open the file.

 

Micah opened the file, slow careful movements. He looked at what was in front of him. It was the school. The man turned the page for Micah before handing it back to him. Wolverine.

 

“You get us Wolverine and we’ll give you your brother back. Simple trade, Micah,” he said.

 

Micah didn’t say anything. This was wrong, he could feel it. Still he wanted Abram back, he wanted his brother back.

 

Micah didn’t say anything, hanging his head and closing his eyes. He imagined Abram, Ororo, his mom, and him together again. He imagined they were watching a movie and all he wanted was for that to be true. So he breathed deeply and nodded, ignoring the man’s sick smile.

 

“How do I know you’ll keep up your end of the deal?” Micah asked as the man started to move, rising from the uncomfortable plastic seat.

 

“Your brother will be waiting, when you give us Wolverine, we’ll give you your brother,” he said. Micah bit his lip, but nodded nonetheless. He hated that this was something he needed to do, but he was going to do it.

 

“What about Jackie?” Micah asked.

 

“Off the table.”

 

* * *

 

They dropped Micah off in plainclothes a half mile from the school. He walked slowly, kicking gravel and stuff as he went. He felt like his stomach had been filled with steel and all he wanted was to do was cry. Roxy collided with him when he came through the gate.

 

“I thought you were dead, dumbass,” Roxy had tackled Micah to the ground and she weighed a good two hundred or so pounds more than him due to being made of diamond.

 

“I’m fine. Please get off me before you kill me,” Micah said, his voice sounding weird and half smushed.

 

“Your uncle is pissed at you, well more concerned. And Ms. Munroe is back from Cairo,” Roxy said.

 

Micah cussed under his breath, he didn’t want to deal with how they’d react. He couldn’t tell them, but they’d want to know why he’d disappeared for three days and that conversation wouldn’t go anywhere good.

 

“I, uh, have to go. Gotta do… stuff. If you run into Jean-Paul or ‘Ro, tell them I’m in my room,” Micah said before bolting in the direction of the faculty building.

 

“What the fuck. Micah, what’s wrong with you?” Roxy asked, grabbing Micah’s arm. He screamed, strangles and scared for a moment before he yanked his hand away.

 

“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong, just tell them that if you see them. I need to talk to Professor Howlett.”

 

Roxy gave him an odd look before holding her arms up in surrender. “Okay, see you in a little while.”

 

Micah nodded, sprinting towards the faculty building. The first floor was offices with apartments above. Micah placed his hand to the keypad, short circuiting the panel before he opened the door. He tried to walk with confidence, like he knew what he was doing. 

 

_ Fake it till you make it, _ he thought.  _ Yeah, that’ll work. _

 

Four doors from the right was Professor Howlett’s office. Micah swallowed thickly, Wolverine. His target, his one way ticket to seeing his brother again.

 

“Mr. Howlett? Can I talk?” Micah asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c o m m e n t


	6. A Half Truth Is A Whole Lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for alcohol and drugs? It's light but I want to warn you.

Before Micah was able to stop himself the story poured out of him, everything, his brother, Jackie, what he’d found out, it all came out. By the end he was standing there breathless, silent tears streaming down his cheeks. He’d made a mistake, oversold his capabilities and even though it would be damn near impossible to stop Micah, he’d let his weakness be exploited.

 

“You want some whiskey, kid?” Wolverine asked, grabbing a bottle of something Micah assumed to be whiskey from the brown liquid sloshing in it.

 

“I’m 16,” Micah responded, tilting his head to the side in a silent question. What kind of adult offers a kid alcohol, instead of answering Wolverine poured himself a generous glass and took a sip, sprinkling in some powder and a small pour of something else.

 

“You’re gonna say you drugged my drink,” he said.

 

“But I didn’t,” Micah responded, choosing his words slowly and awkwardly.

 

“I know, kid. I just drugged my own drink,” his voice was gruff, like he thought Micah was stupid for questioning him.

 

Micah paused for a second, puzzled, before it hit him. Wolverine was helping him, “Why?”

 

“I had a brother once. Things didn’t end… well. I know what it’s like,” Wolverine said, his voice somehow both tentative and similar to that of a man who drank 2 bottles of liquor a day while smoking 4 packs.

 

Micah nodded, waiting a few minutes until he passed out before jimmying the lock on the window and using his telekinesis to drag Wolverine into the air. He was out the entire time they were in the air, a few times Micah poked him to see if he was still breathing and he always was.

 

As Micah traded Wolverine for his unconscious brother he still felt like he was doing something wrong. He knew he probably was, but he couldn’t help feeling overjoyed to see Abram alive and safe.

 

* * *

 

The infirmary regarded Abram with confusion, patching him up and placing him in a room for further testing. Which left Micah to talk to Ororo and Jean-Paul, something he was dreading.

 

“Where have you been?” Ororo asked, hugging Micah tight enough that he couldn’t breathe right.

 

“I… uh… It’s complicated. But I’m okay, and Abram’s back,” Micah said. “He’s back.”

 

“Micah, you have to understand you worried all of us. When I got back my apartment was destroyed, what happened?” Jean Paul said, he’d mastered making Micah feel guilty in the last few months.

 

“When Abram died… he didn’t really die? Instead Weapons Plus got him and stuff. And then they had Abram kidnap me in your apartment, I’m sorry,” Micah said.

 

“How did you escape?” Jean Paul asked.

 

Micah squirmed, looking at his shoes. “They let me go. They said if I got Wolverine for them, they’d give me Abram back. Wolverine… I didn’t make him do it. I’m… I’m sorry.”

 

Ororo and Jean Paul exchanged worried looks.

 

“Stay here, you’re in trouble when we get back,” Ororo said before they ran out.

 

Micah breathed deeply, he knew this was going to get him in more trouble. He opened the groupchat.

 

**kid x-tra fucking annoying:** anyone on campus meet me in the theater room triple asap. seriously y’all it’s important

 

Micah grabbed his jacket, running out of the infirmary and towards the extracurricular building. He prayed to god that the X-Men had already been assembled and no one would stop him. He found the theater room empty, except for Vic and Dallas.

 

“Roxy’s on her way, what’s up?” Vic asked.

 

“Okay, so Jackie got kidnapped again and we need to save her. Dallas, the Cuckoos still owe you a favor, right?” Micah moved his fingers at his side, trying to absorb as much ambient energy as he could.

 

“Uh, yeah. Micah, what do you need them to do?” Dallas asked.

 

“I need help finding her,” Micah said. “You guys don’t have to come, but if you’re willing I could use the man-power. And the access to a car.”

 

“We’re not crashing my car,” Dallas said, crossing his arms in a show of defiance.

 

“We’re not crashing your car. It’s not in the plans, yet,” Micah said. “Okay judging by your face I should tell you that that was a joke.”

 

“Okay, we’re in,” Dallas said, after exchanging a few looks with Victor.

 

Micah nodded. “When adults find out, I’ll take all the blame. I won’t get you guys in trouble.”

 

“We don’t care if we’re in trouble, we’re your friends and we’d do it for you,” Dallas said. “I won’t crash my car for you because our friendship isn’t that special.”

 

Micah rolled his eyes.  _ With friends like these you hardly need anemones.  _ It was a stupid joke, but his mom had said it all the time when he was a kid and it still brought an involuntary smiles to his face.

 

* * *

 

Micah had never seen Cerebro before they broke in. It was almost comically easy for a place that was supposed to be able to keep anything out, he just short circuited the control panel and the door opened. Easy peasy.

 

“You should tell your friends about what’s on your mind, about your father,” one of the Cuckoos said.

 

“How’d you… Nevermind stupid question. I’ll tell them when we’re done with this,” Micah said. “You guys want to come with us?”

 

For a few seconds they seemed to be locked in a psychic conversation before they said they’d come.

 

“Who are we looking for?” One of them said, Micah thought her name was Irma or maybe Mindee.

 

“A girl, her name is Jackie. She’s a 11 year old mutant with the ability to manipulate people’s phenotypes,” Micah said. After a few seconds their eyes began to glow.

 

“We have her coordinates,” they said in unison.

 

Micah nodded, pulling out his notebook and jotting down the address.

 

“You guys should get your training uniforms on if you want to come. But cover them up with like sweatpants and a jacket, maybe? We don’t want the police to pull us over. We’re taking the Spectre Mobile,” Micah said. “Dallas’s car. That’s what we call it.”

 

They all nodded in unison before they left, no evidence they’d ever been there.

 

* * *

 

Dallas gunned the car. Sneaking out of the school with the Stepford Cuckoos was almost laughably easy. The car wasn’t quite meant to go any faster than 60 miles an hour anymore and made a weird rattling sound once it broke 50.

 

“Here’s where we’re going,” Micah said, putting the coordinates into his phone. It was a two hour drive away, it’s closest town had a population of 600 people.

 

“Can I just say that nothing good happens when the closest town has a population smaller than our school?” Molly said.

 

“Yeah, we can all guess that,” Roxy said.

 

“I’m just saying. If we all die I’m gonna beat the snot out of Micah,” Molly said before leaning back and sticking her headphones in.

 

Micah froze for a second, trying to get rid of the nagging feeling that maybe he was leading his friends to an early grave. He ignored it choosing instead to fiddle with the radio. He wasn’t going to let his friends die on his watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wuzzup eli im p sure youre the only one reading at this point


	7. The Gates Of Heaven Broke Lose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the story of Noah and the arc.

The Cuckoos screamed in unison, curling up and holding their heads as though all of them had been hit with a sledgehammer at once. Dallas swerved, each of them screaming in shock as they finally came to a halt on the side of the highway. For a few second all of them catch their breath, the Cuckoos’ screaming having stopped, but the adrenaline still lingered.

 

“Everyone okay?” Micah asked, contorting himself to see everyone from the front seat.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Roxy said. “Are the Creepy Triplets, okay?”

 

“We’re fine,” Mindee says. “It just felt like… there was more mutants. Like millions more mutants all at once.”

 

Everyone looked back and forth, on edge and unsure what it meant.

 

“Micah, what’d you say Jackie’s powers were?” Roxy asked.

 

“Holy shit. She can manipulate phenotype, I think we need to gun it,” Micah said. The sun was setting and they still had thirty minutes till they were there.

 

* * *

 

Micah noticed one thing about wherever they were, it was creepy as fuck. The darkness had seemingly swallowed the entire area, even when Molly held a ball of flames in her hand it didn’t seem to affect anything. When they came to the door it took a second to even find the handle.

 

“What is this place?” Dallas asked, he was seemingly squinting against the darkness.

 

“Some kind of underground mine I think? I dunno, whoever these people are they’re really interested in being dramatic,” Molly said, quirking her mouth into a smile.

 

Micah nodded. Everything about the place made him feel on edge. Eventually they found a door, a series of thick steel doors that took an incredible amount of strength to open. The sound of the doors opening made his head hurt, it was a terrible noise.

 

The steel doors revealed concrete floors lit by fluorescent lights, it reminded Micah of the school basement in a weird way.

 

“So… we’re gonna do this?” Molly asked, flicking the lighter back and forth in her hand.

 

“I think so. Hey, Cuckoos, is Jackie here?” Roxy asked.

 

For a moment their eyes glow before they nod in unison.

 

“Okay, let’s go working. We should split up, each of us will take a Cuckoo so we can communicate. Phoebe, you go with Molly and Micah, Irma come with me, and Celeste go with Dallas and Victor. If you find Jackie give us your location and we’ll meet you,” Roxy said. Micah had to admit, she was good at delegating and it made her a great leader.

 

* * *

 

Micah wandered with Molly and Phoebe, making idle small talk as they walked the halls. It changed from the sterile entrance to a more industrial environment as they walked. No one else had found anything.

 

“Why is your mind like,” Phoebe gestured vaguely. “That. Reading it is like finding a needle in a needle stack.”

 

“Charles Xavier thought I was the future of the X-Men. He thought that if my mind was hard to read no matter whether or not I had a psychic damper it’d be good,” Micah said. “I guess it was smart.”

 

“It’s annoying,” Phoebe said, sounding slightly petulant. Micah didn’t quite understand why his mind being confusing would make her mad, but he figured it was a telepath thing.

 

“Hey, fancy power guys. Can you tell us where we are?” Molly asked.

 

Micah rolled his eyes, “Not how my powers work.”

 

“Yeah, not how mine work either,” Phoebe said.

 

“Well then what are you useful for?” Molly asked, pouting a little overdramatically. Little and overdramatic, Molly in two words.

 

“We’re hot,” Micah said, unintentionally deadpan.

 

Everyone laughed and for a few seconds the weight of the situation was gone, everything felt better. The world may be fucked up and terrible, but for a little while everything felt good. Soon they kept walking, Phoebe walking in front of them.

 

“Your head, it was changed by Charles Xavier?” Molly asked. “Isn’t he supposed to be like… a good person?”

 

“Yes. Everyone thought he was a good dude for a really long time. When I was little he started working with me because my powers were unpredictable and he… he wanted to be big picture and make me the protector of mutants. You don’t have to feel bad for me, I know who I am and everything that’s led up to me is part of that,” Micah said.

 

“Wow, that’s deep. I was gonna just offer to dig up his gross body and incinerate it,” Molly said before smiling wide and shoving Micah playfully. He rolled his eyes and walked along her side.

 

The further they went things seemed to change until they came to an opening. It looked over a completely self contained city. It looked unlike any city Micah had ever seen, more like an ancient city all underground.

 

“This is like something out of an Indian Jones movie,” Molly said, her face was awestruck.

 

“A what?” Phoebe asked.

 

“We’re doing a movie marathon when we get home,” Micah said. “Are we closer to Jackie?”

 

For a moment Phoebe’s eyes glowed and her hair seemed to defy gravity before she nodded. “That building, she’s in there.”

 

“Okay, Phoebe, can you cloak us while I fly us over?” When Phoebe nodded Micah created a hard energy construct, the same thing he used with his telekinesis, but bigger.

 

No one below in the city turned to look at them. Micah wasn’t even sure there was anyone there because other than a few people it was empty. The energy of the city felt different than it did anywhere else. In New York everything felt crazy and like there was a low noise cutting in and out of his head. The best way to describe it was the sound effect movies used for flying saucers. The city they’d found felt more like how his mom’s powers had. There was something natural, something lovely about the city.

 

“I feel like I’m 007,” Molly said, she had a huge smile plastered on her face and she was practically vibrating with excitement.

 

“Does that make me a bond girl?” Micah asked.

 

“Yes, you are my totally platonic bond girl who encourages my lesbian escapades. Throughout the movie we prove our prowess by outsmarting everyone and there is no less than 3 scenes where you walk out of the water soaking wet only to flirt with a towel guy,” Molly said. “When we get back we’re totally making this movie.”

 

Micah hummed and smiled before creating a force field of energy around his fist before punching through the roof. The clay crumbled allowing him to easily jump down and into the room.

 

“Easy, see? Come on,” Micah said.

 

Molly rolled her eyes before joining him, followed by Phoebe.

 

“You guys okay?” Micah asked.

 

“Yeah, we’re good. This is ten times easier than Gambit’s training sessions, anyways,” Molly said. For a second Micah agreed, Gambit’s training sessions generally had more espionage and covert ops than most other teachers and their situation was strikingly similar.

 

As they wandered the halls Micah realized they were in some sort of palace. The walls were covered in tapestries, fine rugs covering the marble floors.

 

“We close?” Micah asked. Phoebe nodded before placing a finger over her mouth and nodding towards a door.

 

They opened the door and Micah was struck by the room. Across the room he saw Jackie playing on her DS, but she looked different. Her long hair was meticulously styled, golden clips in her hair. He carefully stepped forward before he was grabbed and he felt an odd energy touch him.

 

Then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment yall

**Author's Note:**

> comment... pls...


End file.
